Djokovic beats Sousa in straight sets

second-round action against Milos Raonic. Federer leads the big-serving Canadian 113 overall.

Federer’s last appearance at the Paris indoor event was a third-round loss to big-serving John Isner in 2015. There were doubts Federer would play after a grueling past week which saw him clinch his ninth victory at the Swiss Indoors and 99th overall. “I feel good,” Federer told a news conference.

“I feel like I recovered well from last week.”

The 37-year-old Federer is selective of when he plays in order to keep his body as fresh as possible, and he skipped the entire clay-court season for the second straight year. With the season-ending ATP Finals in London starting Nov 11, he is playing three straight tournaments. But the third-ranked Federer feels comfortable with it. “I feel like it’s better for me to play matches rather than practice,” Federer said.

“As long as I don’t feel like I’m taking a chance on my health prior to London, that’s the key as well.”

Federer showed fighting qualities last week in Basel, where he was twice taken to three sets and went an early break down in three of his last four matches. “I was a bit bumpy. But I was happy how I was fighting, how I was trying to figure it out in a different manner,” he said.

“Last week was special to win the way I did it, in a different manner.”

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal pulled out of the Paris Masters on Wednesday guaranteeing Djokovic’s return to world number one spot. Announcing his withdrawal at a hastily arranged press conference Nadal said: “My abdominal muscles haven’t felt good for the past few days, especially on serve, doctors recommended that I didn’t play.”